When I Go Home Again
by BionicLeg
Summary: Faith gives being on her own a try, but is she in over her head?
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Sequel to Coming Home. Faith is set up in Dallas, but is she able to handle being on her own?

AN: I know this is a few years overdue, but I hope there is still interest in a Coming Home Sequel.

Chapter One

So it's been six months since Faith left for Dallas and still no word from her. I'm not sure how I should feel. On the one hand, I should be proud of her for not needing any help, but on the other, I really wish she would call me. Or text me. I would even settle for smoke signals or morse code. Not that I would understand what she was trying to say though.

Andrew's still the only one that knows something was going on between the two of us. I'm pretty sure Willow figured it out, but I'll cross that bridge if I ever need to. Considering Faith hasn't talked to me in months, I doubt I ever will.

A few weeks ago I almost jumped on a plane just to go say hey, but then I realized that would be stupid and selfish. When has that ever stopped me though?

"Buffy?" Oh, great. I spaced out again. I tend to do that when I start thinking about Faith, but I don't think Willow appreciates having to wait for the sandwich I'm making her.

"Sorry, I was trying to remember if you liked mayo or mustard."

"The sandwich is already made. You're just staring at it."

"Maybe I was trying to decide if I wanted it or not."

"Yours is sitting on the table. Buffy, if you didn't want to make me a sandwich you shouldn't have offered."

I hate that I'm so nice sometimes. I try to be a good friend and offer to make my best friend lunch, and I can't even do that without thinking about Faith.

She does this to me all the time too. I could be sitting at a stop light wondering what Faith's doing and a hundred horns will sound off trying to get me to drive.

"Buffy!"

Stupid Faith.

"OK!" I practically shout at her. Well, not really her. Loud noises seem to do the trick when I want to stop thinking about a certain brunette.

I set the plate of food down in front of Willow and take a huge bite of my sandwich. Hopefully this will keep her from wanting to talk about what's bothering me.

"Want to tell me what's wrong?"

Damn.

"Mo," I swallow my food and try again, "no."

"So there is something wrong."

Taking a drink of water doesn't work either!

"I'm just tired. I didn't sleep very well last night."

"You were sawing logs last night while we were trying to watch a movie. Xander had to carry you to your room so we could watch it in peace."

Yeah, she caught that lie pretty easily. I slept great last night. Probably because I had an amazing dream about Faith and her looking really good as a fire-woman. That dream was better than any movie could have been, so I don't feel bad for falling asleep during it. I'm glad Xander took me to my room, though. That could have been pretty embarrassing if I let something slip out while sleeping.

"It's just..." maybe I will have to cross that bridge, "why hasn't Faith called? I thought she would have by now. Just to let us know how things are going and stuff like that."

"I knew it!"

Uh... "Uh..."

"You're so easy to read, Buffy! Whenever Faith's name is mentioned you get this glazed over look in your eyes. Just like you had when you were making my sandwich! And when we were looking at those sunglasses at the mall. And when we played poker the other night. And..."

"I get it!"

To be fair, though, I could have looked like that for a ton of other reasons. Sometimes I just like to turn my brain off for a few seconds. Who am I kidding? It was totally because of Faith. She would have looked so good in this one pair of Oakleys, and she was always good at poker. I should have had her teach me because I suck at it. Probably because I space out in the middle of games, but whatever.

"You're doing it again."

"Sorry." No I'm not.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"I'm your best friend."

"So? I tried to use that the other day when you and Kennedy were fighting, but you wouldn't tell me what was wrong."

Nothing can hide the blush that creeps up Willow's neck. Great, so now she'll probably tell me.

"It was a sex thing."

I knew it. Anything to get me to open up about my own stuff. Wait.. "What kind of sex thing?"

It comes out far more accusing than I want it to, but she did catch me a little off guard.

"Um..."

Nope, she's trapped. She has to tell me now. That's one can of worms she definitely shouldn't have opened.

"But I'm your best friend."

If looks could kill, I'd probably be dead now. I'd just come back to life, though. I'm good at doing that.

"It's no big deal. We were...we were, you know, doing stuff, and I kind of...said someone else's name."

I can't help the laugh that comes out.

"It's not funny, Buffy!"

She has a point, it's not funny, but only if it's my name, Dawn's name, Faith's name...yeah it's not funny.

"Whose name was it?"

There's that stupid blush again. If she was thinking about... "Whoopi."

"As in Whoopi Goldberg?"

I lied, this is funny.

"Buffy! It's not funny. Stop laughing!"

"Where did Whoopi Goldberg come from?

Her blush deepens, and it's all I can do to not tease her anymore than I already am.

"We just got finished watching Boys on the Side, and the piano part was really sweet. It just got to me."

"Oh my god. Is that why Kennedy insisted on buying that stupid keyboard?"

"You can't tell her I told you! She would never forgive me, and what's wrong with the keyboard? I thought it was sweet."

I just roll my eyes, but I'm thankful for the distraction, however brief.

"Anyway, we aren't talking about my problems. We're talking about yours."

I kind of resent that. It's not like I have any real problems. Sure, I haven't dated anyone since Faith left, not that you could call what Faith and I were doing dating. Ok, I haven't had sex with anyone since Faith left. Not that there hasn't been the opportunity, there's been plenty of that, just no one is as appealing to me.

"I just wish she would call. It's been six months." I leave off the part about missing her, but I really do, and this not talking thing sucks.

"You know, I hear that phones actually work both ways. I haven't actually tried it out, though, so I may be wrong."

"Haha." How am I supposed to call her? She went to Dallas to get away from me. Calling her would kind of ruin that for her.

Willow finally eases up and looks at me with pity. I'd rather she just keep making fun of me. I don't want her to feel sorry for me. "Maybe she's just been really busy. I hear Dallas has a lot to offer. Maybe she got into football, or basketball. Oh! Or maybe she met someone! We were always talking about how she needed to put herself out there to find the right guy."

Faith is a Boston fan through and through, so I know there's not football or basketball to keep her busy, so maybe Willow's right, maybe she met someone. I don't remember ever having that conversation, though, and it kind of worries me that my friends were talking about something like that while Faith and I were together. Didn't they think she was happy while she was here?

I'm such an idiot. Of course she wasn't happy. That's why she left.

"Yeah, you're right. She probably met someone." It comes out with more sadness in my voice than I intend, but I can't help it. The thought of her with someone else really kills me.

"You know, I wasn't lying when I said you were easy to read. You can talk to me. You know that, right?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"I called out Whoopi Goldberg's name during sex. Trust me, there's nothing weirder than that."

I can't help but laugh, and it's one of those loud, embarrassing chuckles because I'm so close to losing it and just breaking down in front of her.

"I think I might have feelings for Faith." It comes out so easily that I'm afraid it was all in my head, but the look Willow is giving me tells me that it wasn't.

"Buffy, what part of that wouldn't I understand? The fact that she's a girl? The fact that she has a questionable past? Look who you're talking to and tell me again that I wouldn't understand."

It all sounds so simple when she says it like that, but I know it's not the truth. I've seen some of the looks her and the others have given Faith. It was the main reason I ended things before Faith left for Dallas.

"You and the others have been less than accepting of Faith since she came back to Sunnydale. I've seen how you guys look at her sometimes, and I'm sure she has too."

Willow rolls her eyes and pushes her all but forgotten food aside, "You're imagining things. I'm the one that brought Faith back to Sunnydale. I don't think there's a day that went by that she wasn't playing some sort of video game with Xander or one of the others. I think Andrew even got in on the action. And if we all hated her and were throwing her dirty looks, why would we care if she found the right guy?"

"Why would I imagine it?"

"Because you have feelings for Faith, and you don't like it. You probably think she's going to go back to that teenage girl she used to be and hurt you again. She's changed, Buffy. Anyone willing to see it, can. The only one stuck in the past is you."

I don't want to cry, I really don't, but if this conversation keeps going like this, I know I'm going to.

"Why couldn't you have told me all of this six months ago?"

"You didn't want to talk about it. You don't even want to talk about it now."

She's right. I don't want to talk about it. What good does it do me now to open up about her when she's not here? She obviously doesn't care about me anymore or she would have called.

"It doesn't matter anymore. You're right, she probably found someone so there's no point talking about it now."

"How do you know it doesn't matter? Why don't you talk to her?"

"Because she doesn't want to talk or she would have tried by now!" I don't mean to yell at her, but I can't handle this anymore. I leave my mostly untouched food on the table and get up to go to my room.

* * *

I must have fallen asleep, but I don't even remember laying down. The last thing I remember is yelling at Willow and getting all emotional about Faith. I have no idea how long I've been out, I'm just thankful the phone decided to ring when it did or I probably would have slept through patrol.

Crap, I hope I haven't already.

I get up to stretch out my stiff limbs. If I was going to take a nap, the least I could have done was make sure I was comfortable first.

I wonder who called. I don't think it would be Dawn or someone would have gotten me by now. Maybe it's Andrew. He likes to call from time to time just to check up and act like we all like him.

As I make my way out of my room and down the stairs, I can hear Willow softly talking to someone. It sounds kind of urgent, and I start to worry that maybe it is Dawn and something has happened.

As I round the corner into the kitchen to see what's going on, Willow stops talking and turns to face me. I can't read the expression on her face, but I know it's not a good one.

"It's Faith," she says as she places her hand over the phone.

There's no warning, so I'm not really ready for what she says, and I'm certainly not ready to take the phone as she hands it to me.

I just stand there for a few seconds staring at the receiver. I have no idea what to say. Do I start with a hello? That's what most normal people do, but this situation doesn't feel very normal. Do I start yelling at her for not calling me sooner? But what if she needs something and I make her angry?

Willow shoving me pulls me out of my daze, and I bring the phone up to my ear.

"Hello?" I go with a normal person response.

"Buffy?" She sounds kind of hesitant. Good, she should be. I can't believe this is the first time I'm hearing from her, but her voice sounds so good, and I'm this close to spacing out again.

"Nice of you to call, Faith." I know I'm being rude, but it's a defense mechanism.

"How quick can you get to Dallas?"

All of the air rushes out of me. I can barely handle a phone call, and now she wants me to hop on a plane and go see her?

I can be there tonight. I just hope there's a flight I can catch stand-by. I refuse to let Willow fly me or teleport me anywhere ever since that unfortunate event last month that involved a daycare, lost lunch, and a ton of awkward stares.

"Why would I want to go to Dallas?" Even though I'm really excited and scared to see her, I can't let her know that.

"I need you. I'm kinda in over my head here." It's said so softly that I'm not sure she actually said it.

Faith needs me, though, and I don't care if it took her six months to tell me that, it's so good to hear.

"I'll be there tonight."

Even if I have to be teleported again, I'll be there tonight. I just hope I don't end up in another daycare.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

Chapter Two

"Kennedy won't mind you coming with me?"

Willow looks at me like I've gone crazy. "Wouldn't that have been a good thing to ask me before the plane took off?"

"Probably."

She laughs and pulls out her computer. She wanted to get any research she could done before we touched down in Dallas, but apparently Faith didn't tell her much.

"Go through it with me again."

"Buffy, we've been through it three times, and each time I tell you the same thing. She didn't say much. Just that she thinks she may have gotten in way over her head, and she needs backup. She didn't say what she needs backup for, you hung up the phone before we could figure that out."

Yeah, I did hang up pretty quickly, but I was afraid if we kept talking I would lose all the courage I had worked up to agree to go see her. I didn't even allow myself much time to pack. I just grabbed a bunch of random clothes and threw them into a bag. I really hope I packed something nice for the trip. I don't think Faith will be impressed if all I brought are sweats.

I'm glad Willow decided to come with me because I don't think I could have managed this trip on my own. I already had enough trouble packing, and I think Willow knew that because she was sitting at the dining room table with flight information for the both of us. She even had a small suitcase packed with what I can only imagine was meticulously folded clothes and every accessary she would need.

I'm not even sure I brought a toothbrush.

"What could you be researching then?"

"I want to see what Dallas has to offer."

I'm kind of surprised. Usually Willow is so focused on the task at hand. "So Faith calls out of the blue, worried that she may be in trouble, and you're researching attractions?"

"Yeah. I want to know where we can go to pet a cow, and we have to have chicken fried steak and sweet tea."

That actually sounds like fun. I've never pet a cow and I'm not completely sure what chicken fried steak is. "Do you think we could do both at the same place?"

"Seems like it would be convenient."

* * *

I have no idea what to expect. Willow managed to get our flight time to Faith, so I know she's going to be here to pick us up, I just don't know what to expect. Am I supposed to hug her or should I shake her hand? That seems like it would be a little weird, and we've never really been the hugging kind, so that might be a little weird too.

Maybe I'll just stand there and stare at her because that would be a totally normal thing to do.

I don't have nearly as long as I want to decide what to do because she's standing there in the middle of a crowd, and our eyes immediately lock despite the chaos around us. She looks so good, and I almost hate how effortlessly it comes to her.

Her hair is a little longer, and she's gotten a little more tan since she's been in Texas, but as good as she looks, she looks like something is bothering her.

Willow spots her almost as fast as I do, and she answers my question on how to greet her for me. Before Faith can pull her hands out of her pockets, Willow has her wrapped up in the biggest hug I've ever seen her give anyone.

I'm pretty sure Faith and I are wearing identical shocked expressions considering neither one of us expected her to be so friendly.

"It's so good to see you, Faith. You have to tell us everything about your time in Texas. Do you know of a place we can pet a cow and eat chicken fried steak? What about a place we could get some sweet tea?" It all comes out in one breath, like she's afraid Faith won't listen if she pauses between sentences.

Despite her efforts, though, I can tell Faith really isn't paying much attention to her. Looking over Willow's shoulder, she's giving me a look that's making me a little uncomfortable with how intense it is.

I wonder what she's thinking about. I hope she thinks I look as good as I think she does, and I hope she missed me as much as I missed her.

Sensing that Faith really isn't concerned with steaks or tea, Willow releases her and we all kind of stand there awkwardly.

"Well, as fun as this is, I think you wanted us to help you with something? And I'm really looking forward to seeing the sights."

Leave it to Willow to cut to the chase. It's not like it does much good, though, because Faith and I are still standing here staring at each other.

"Buffy."

She doesn't even smile when she says it. It's almost like she resents me being here, but she's the one that asked, so she can just get over it.

"Faith." I try to say it with the same emotion she did, but I don't think I quite pulled it off.

"Willow."

That catches us both off guard because neither one of us said it. We both turn towards the third wheel with questioning looks on our faces.

"No one said hi to me. I was feeling left out," she says with a shrug of her shoulders.

Faith finally smiles at that, and it's nice to see her relax some. I was worried that the entire trip would be spent with her mad at me.

"I got you guys a room at a hotel. I'll take you there, and then we can go over what's been going on."

"We're not staying with you?" I can't help the hurt tone that comes out, but I hate feeling like she doesn't really want us here.

"I didn't think you would want to. It's kind of a small house."

"Fine, so take us to the hotel." I really just want to get this encounter over with. Maybe if we both sleep on whatever is bothering us, we'll be much more pleasant tomorrow.

We push our way through the crowd, and I'm thankful I only had a carry on. It seems like my bag always gets lost when I check them, and that's one problem I do not want to add to the others that seem to be mounting here in Dallas.

Faith is slightly in front of us, but I don't know whether or not she's just trying to lead us or trying to get away from us. This trip is not looking good, but you could never tell Willow thought the same with the way she's looking around the airport.

It seems like everything she sees is new and exciting, despite the fact that it's an airport and the people look exactly the same here as they do anywhere.

We finally make it outside and to Faith's car parked not too far away. She pops the trunk open and Willow and I struggle to get our bags into the tiny space.

"Sorry, it's a little small," she says with slight embarrassment.

"That's ok. It matches your house." Yeah, there's a hint of resentment there, but I'm past caring at this point.

There's not really a backseat to climb into, but I manage to crawl my way into the space that's there. If Faith wants to act like a brat, I can do the same, and I know that I'm much better at it.

Willow looks a little confused at how I'm acting as she sits down in the front passenger seat. She probably thought I would be over the moon with seeing Faith, and I would be if she were even a little bit excited in seeing me.

Faith throws a look over her shoulder as she sits in the driver's seat. I can't tell what she's thinking, but she lets out a sigh and turns back to start the car.

I'm already loving Dallas.

* * *

We pull up to what's supposed to be our hotel, but looking at her car and assuming her house is much of the same, I'm not sure how Faith afforded it.

A five-star hotel in the middle of downtown? There's no way.

She climbs out of the car, and Willow follows suit. I try my best to gracefully exit the vehicle, but considering the tight space and my lack of grace to begin with, I don't quite succeed.

Willow laughs as I hook my foot in the seatbelt and tumble out of the car. I look up from my spot on the ground and see that Faith is trying to hide her smirk. I guess me making a fool of myself was all that was needed to break the ice, but just as quickly as the smile appears, it disappears.

She extends her hand down to me, and I accept the offer of her helping me up. It's not much, but I'll take whatever contact I can get at this point. She maybe holds onto my hand a little longer than necessary, but I'm not complaining. The feeling of her hand in mine is nice and something I've missed way more than I thought.

Willow clears her throat and Faith and I drop hands like they are on fire.

We grab our bags, and Faith leads us into the lobby. I don't think I've ever been anywhere as nice as this, and I still can't believe Faith would put us up here.

After getting our keys and finding our way to the room, Faith pulls me back as Willow enters to check things out.

"Look, I know you're pissed that I called you here, and I know this isn't exactly what you expected, but I'm trying."

"I'm not mad that you called me here, and yeah, this isn't what I expected. How happy would you be if I called you up to come see me and then put you in some hotel?"

"Some hotel? Buffy, I can barely afford for you guys to stay here, but I thought you might like it. Go tell Willow to pack up her shit. You can come stay with me in my shithole."

"The fact that you think I would think something like that about where you live just goes to show why I didn't want to be with you."

Yeah, that hurts her, and I'm kind of angry with myself for letting it slip out. I should really work on that thinking before speaking thing.

"Why you didn't want to be with me? You didn't want to be with me because of what others thought about us. Don't act like you weren't ashamed of it, of me, so is it really so hard to believe I don't want you to see where I live? It would just be another thing to add to your list."

And that hurts me. Yeah, maybe I was afraid of what the others thought, but I wasn't ever ashamed of Faith. There isn't anything to be ashamed of.

"I don't have a list. There's never been a list."

"Yeah, well, you can start one then."

With that, she turns and leaves without even glancing back at me.

"Faith, wait!" I try to call out to her but she doesn't acknowledge I've said anything.

Just as she gets to the elevator, she finally turns back to me, "I'll be by in the morning to go over things with you guys."

The elevator doors open, and just like that, she's gone. Again.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for the delay, and thanks for the reviews. This was actually an idea I had right after I ended the first story. This sequel had just been sitting in bits and pieces on my computer until reading other stories gave me the inspiration to dust all of this off.

Chapter Three

That was probably the best night's sleep I've gotten since Faith left for Dallas. This room is amazing. The bed is amazing. The bathtub is amazing. I love everything about it other than the fact I'm sharing it with Willow and not the girl I want to be sharing it with.

Any anger I felt last night has vanished. I feel so refreshed, and I know it's mostly because I'm in the same city as Faith again. The jets in the bathtub and the plush bed definitely helped too.

Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather be at Faith's house despite how embarrassed she might be of it, but this is a nice consolation prize.

I don't have much time to reflect on how good it feels to be here, though, because there's a loud knock on the door. I can't help but smile because I know who it is.

But then I remember I'm still in my pajamas, I haven't brushed my teeth, and my hair is a mess. Willow is obviously unaware of my current state because she wastes no time in opening the door.

Of course Faith looks amazing. Why wouldn't she? She always does, and here I am, a slob.

"Don't get out of bed on account of me or anything." I can't tell if she's joking or not. She's gotten so hard to read after not seeing her for six months.

"Sorry, I overslept." I force myself to get out of bed, but it's only when I'm standing up that I realize my pajamas only consist of boy shorts and a tank top.

It doesn't seem to bother Willow at all, but Faith and I are just standing here staring at each other, waiting for the other to do something. Wait a minute, I shouldn't be embarrassed. She's definitely seen me in less and in far more compromising positions.

After the initial shock of giving Faith an eyeful of more skin than she probably thought she'd ever see again, I realize she's totally into this! She's not even making an effort to look anywhere near my face. If she was anyone else, I might be a little offended. Well, if she was anyone else, I wouldn't be just standing here letting her stare at me like that.

I guess it registers with her that she's leering, and she finally makes eye contact. I know the smile I give her is flirty, but I can't help it. Plenty of men and women have looked at me like that over the course of my life, but no one has made me feel that warm and tingly just by doing it.

She totally wants me.

I don't have to brush by her on the way to the bathroom, and I don't have to bend over like this to get some clothes out of my bag, but I do. I know she appreciates it.

* * *

The table in the room would have been perfectly fine to sit at with Willow, but on the bed with Faith seems like a much better option. I don't mean to mess with Faith's head like this, but I just want to be near her. Everything was so cold between us last night, so I know she has to be confused with how I'm acting around her.

It's not like we ever had a straight forward relationship before. It was always back and forth between us, but she might be getting a little uncomfortable.

I guess I don't really need to be sitting this close to her, so I move. She visibly relaxes as I inch a little further away from her, and that stings a little.

"So," she hesitates, "about why you're here. I don't ask for help very often, and when I do, it usually involves some form of torture, but I think I might be in some trouble."

"Like financial trouble? Because this is a very swanky hotel so you can't really be that hard up for cash."

I'm usually the one that is oblivious to things, but this time it's Willow. It's obvious that Faith isn't having money problems. That's a Council problem. Whatever is going on with her seems like something she doesn't want them to know.

"What's wrong? You haven't, you know..." I hate that that's where I immediately go, and I know she does too. It's something I'm working on.

"No. Well, not really."

Ok, I wasn't expecting that.

"What do you mean not really? You either have or you haven't, Faith."

"Am I the only one that doesn't know what's going on? What are you two talking about. You haven't 'not really' what?"

We both tear our gazes away from each other and focus them on Willow. Maybe if we both stare at her long enough, neither one of us will have to say it out loud.

"Oh!" And it clicks. "You haven't killed anyone. Not really, anyway." It maybe clicks a little better than it should have.

"I haven't killed anyone that probably didn't deserve to be killed. I just didn't kill them for any of those reasons."

I'm not going to say anything. If I just keep my mouth shut, maybe she'll start explaining what's going on instead of just talking circles around it.

"Are you like an assassin? I'm not sure Giles would approve," Willow says, clearly not following my lead of shutting up.

"No, I'm not an assassin." I know she's exasperated with us, but she's not really giving us much to go on. "Look, I kind of just stumbled into this. I was just doing a routine patrol when I came across this vamp. He was talking all sorts of trash about how he was going to finish me like he finished 'that other punk'. About how he was undefeated. I had no idea what the hell he was talking about. I just figured he was another bat shit vampire, but he kept fidgeting with his necklace."

She pulls at the chain around her neck and produces a dog tag from under her shirt. "I knew I wanted it because I think dog tags are awesome, but if I had known what kind of trouble it was going to get me into, I would have just dusted the guy and been done with it."

I scoot closer again so I can see the necklace. It just has a couple of numbers on it and what appear to be tallies. It doesn't take much to confuse me, but I'm not really understanding how something so basic could get Faith into what she obviously thinks is serious trouble.

She clears her throat and that brings me out of my stupor. I didn't realize I had gotten so close to her. She doesn't give me the chance to retreat to my previous spot, she just gets up and starts pacing instead.

"It didn't look like this when I snatched it from him," she says as she stuffs the tag back down her shirt.

"For all of his bragging, he was pretty easy to dust. I didn't even notice until a couple days later that it had changed. This thing was covered front to back with these little lines, except for a few numbers. The only thing I saw on it after that were the numbers, but I was positive they had changed."

"It took me about a week to figure out what the numbers were, but not because I'm some super smart chick. It was because a gang of vamps ambushed me. About a dozen or so. Knocked me out and took me to some dump outside of town. A dump those numbers belonged to. Coordinates or something."

"You were kidnapped by a group of vampires and we're just now finding out about this? Why haven't you kept anyone in the loop? The council would have had someone here immediately to help you."

"That's the thing, Red. I couldn't tell them about this. The vamps didn't nab me because they wanted to kill me. This damn tag is like some magical tracking beacon. It was also my ticket in."

"Ticket in to where?" I was concerned when I thought she had killed someone. Now I'm really concerned.

"A fight."

"So a group of vampires took you to see a fight? That takes southern hospitality to a new level."

"No, you don't get it. I wasn't there to see it. I was there to be in it. Because of this fucking thing." She yanks the necklace back out as if to prove a point. "That's when this line showed up."

I get up off the bed and walk towards her so I can see it again. It's not as awkward this time because Willow is just as curious. Faith's hand is shaking as she points to a tally, and it's really just on instinct that I reach out and cover it with my own.

"It keeps a record of the fights you've been in?" Willow asks. I guess she got a good enough look at the tag before I clasped my hand over Faith's.

"It keeps a record of the fights I've won."

I move my hand from hers and take another look. There are eleven marks. "You've won eleven fights? Out of how many?"

"Eleven."

I feel a little proud despite how messed up it all sounds, but then everything starts to fit. The "not really" killing someone. The tally system. The tag being wiped clean after Faith staked the vampire.

"Those marks don't keep track of the number of fights you've won. They keep track of the number of people you've killed." It seems like Willow is right there with me.

"It's the same thing. You don't win any other way. And they aren't people. I'm the only human there."

"So you're in an underground fighting ring where you kill demons. That sounds like a slayer's dream job."

She rolls her eyes at me, "You still don't get it. It's not a dream job. I've killed eleven demons for the entertainment of others because if I didn't, they would have killed me. They found out I'm a slayer so each fight has gotten harder because everyone wants to be the one that kills me."

"Then walk away, Faith. You've never had a problem doing that before."

"Screw you, B. This doesn't have anything to do with us. I called you here because I thought you could help, but I should have known you would have pulled something like this."

"Faith, wait," Willow calls after her as she starts heading for the door.

"I can't just walk away," she says turning back towards us, "don't you think I've tried? Threats were made, and there are people here that I care about. I don't get out of it until I'm killed. That's what I've gotten myself into."

So she wasn't lying. She really is in over her head. I'm not sure how she thinks I can help. I still don't think I fully understand what's going on. Wait...there are people here she cares about?


End file.
